Beneath grey skies and the unsettling up-and-down movement of the ship under our feet, we just finished our (surprisingly serious and thorough) lifeboat drill… and with that we’re ready to go! Within the next 30 minutes, we should be pushing out to sea.
We boarded the ship at around 10:30am this morning… and have been checking-in, eating lunch, touring, orienting, and waiting for our luggage. The last piece JUST arrived.. WHEW. I must say – we are VERY happy with the new SAS ship and its furnishings. We have 2 cabins next-door, and they are GREAT. A lot more room than we expected, and the kids seem very happy with their room! The buffet lunch was also very good (steamed broccoli! Beef stew! Creamy vegetable soup! And Alexander said “the best pasta he’s had since Italy.” I couldn’t make that up.) The only bad news of the day? NO BROADCAST TV. You’ll have to cheer extra-loud for the Seahawks for us.
So… this is it.
The captain made an announcement that they are expecting “heavy seas” for the next 48 hours and warned all the passengers to wear closed-toe shoes whenever walking about and keep hands free for grabbing handrails. We feel ready– patches are in place behind our 12-and-up ears—but who knows what we can expect from mother nature. J
Oh .. I bet some of you will be interested in tracking our progress while at sea. You ask, I deliver…
here’s a tracking map for the MV World Odyssey.
Enjoy. Correlate it with the Pacific Storm and post a comment! And if you want to learn a bit more about the ship, here’s a data page all about her.
Happy New Year! See you in Japan!
14 Comments
Looks awesome!! Bon Voyage!! Hope to meet up with you as you pass through Southeast Asia!
So excited for you guys! Too looks awesome! Bon voyage! I love you!
Woah. That looks AWESOME!!!
Bon Voyage! I’m proud to say I did 120 days at sea and only gained two pounds. Avoid building your own spare tire life beltline. Eat in moderation. Always use the stairs. Elevators are for wimps. And there is a jogging track and exercise room. Best wishes…Louis
Belfiore luck strikes again! Our fall’99 SAS voyage our room barely passed as a dorm room, no room for a chair, certainly not a seating area! Enjoy! When we crossed the pacific we heard the fog horn blow all night, fond memories. Hope u get ur sea legs fast. Bon voyage, The Shields
That’s really amazing. I hope you have a good time.
I’m on the verge of tears again. 😢
Joe and family, I found your blog through my sister KC. I can’t wait to read about your trip…… 25 years ago I set sail on the SS Universe for the Spring voyage (our accomodations weren’t *quite* as nice as yours appear to be!) It stands as one of the greatest experiences of my life, the friendships I made through SAS are some of my most treasured. Have a spectacular voyage!
Ship looks great! Love getting all the updates.
Looks great! How are the beds? Comfy and cozy!? Did you travel with your own pillows?
We just pulled into Honolulu, and on this count we’re doing quite well! I ran every day on the treadmill, and the food is healthy. Kids have eaten salad everyday and wet haven’t seen a French fry in a week! 🙂
Beds have been great, we did NOT bring our own pillows… These were fine. I’ve seen some of the students with pillows… We might be lucking out here a bit because we’re on the 8th deck with all the faculty and staff. So far it’s been excellent!
Beds have been great, pillows also totally good. We did NOT bring our own. The biggest luxuries we carried were (1) a beach towel for the pool and (2) a ukulele. 🙂
Nice to meet you, virtually! Tell KC we said hi. We have our first blog posts about the ship and voyage coming shortly!